My obligatory Casey Anthony post

Ok, I've never said much about the Casey Anthony case, except that I was a little sick of it. A lot sick of it, actually. So I'm pleased that it is, mercifully, over. And in such a way that it will really never come back. There will be no appeal (I seriously doubt she will appeal the convictions of lying). There won't be a retrial. There will only be rumblings for a while and maybe an interview some day. But mostly, it's over.

And the only thing I really want to say tonight is this: Suck it, Nancy Grace! If you've been around these parts for any length of time, it's not a surprise that I don't much like Nancy. I admit I take random potshots at her in my posts. (She deserves them.) I don't trust her spin on cases, as in this case. If you think you know everything there is to know about this case from watching Nancy Grace, think again.

I haven't been following this case. I didn't mean to, anyway. But it was everywhere. It was hard not to pick up details. This case was so prevalent online and on television, it just seeped into my consciousness by osmosis. We've all been inundated by this circus for the last 6 weeks. I can't help but notice that the only 12 (well, 14 really) people on earth (slight exaggeration) who weren't bombarded by talking heads and pundits and in-depth analysis of every moment in court were the ones who reached the not guilty verdict. Maybe, just maybe, those jurors were in a better place to view the evidence without bias because they were the only people around whose judgment wasn't clouded by the media frenzy? Maybe cases really shouldn't be, can't be, tried in the media?

This verdict actually kinda restores my faith a little. Because since 2008, the media, Nancy Grace leading the charge, had convicted this woman. They had her practically on the gurney, needle poised above her arm. They splashed really unflattering, prejudicial photos of her everywhere while constantly shedding tears over that beautiful little girl. I thought Casey Anthony's presumption of innocence had died along with her daughter, quite honestly. So I am heartened to see that a jury of 12, uninfluenced by the media frenzy, can still uphold the presumption of innocence and hold the state to its burden. Because that's what this case came down to. The jury refused to convict based on emotion and hunches. They actually insisted on evidence, which is sorely lacking here.

And yet have the Nancy Graces of the world learned anything? Not really. HLN hasn't stopped covering this case yet. CNN and Fox News have still been covering it. And so far I have seen the pundits discussing what went wrong, who is to blame, etc. Geraldo said, in essence, "We all KNOW she's guilty, but knowing it and being able to prove it are two different things." One bold talking head on HLN did suggest that the media itself had a hand in turning Casey Anthony into a celebrity which in turn made it harder for a jury to convict her because juries have a hard time convicting celebrities. But I haven't observed any of them expressing any real respect for the jury's verdict, respect for the legal process, or sense that they themselves are the warped part of the system (as opposed to the jury).

I left for two hours to go to Knitting Club and just got back to find they're still going at it! They're all saying how outrageous this verdict is, how disgusting it is that the defense team had champagne at a bar after the verdict, how obvious it is that Casey is guilty. So, no, I guess they have not learned.  They haven't learned that they don't get to decide before a trial whether the defendant is guilty. They don't get to expect a particular verdict because they have already evaluated the evidence and figured out the correct answer. There is only one way for establishing guilt in this country: a jury trial. And the jury has now spoken.

As a final note, I can't help but think if Nancy Grace is THIS mad, something has gone right in the world.